Hayden beats odds to win second title
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 07/08/2012 (4971 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Isiah Hayden had plenty of reason to believe this wasn’t going to be his year at the Ringside World Boxing Championships in Kansas City, Mo.
The 14-year-old boxer from Brandon, who won a ringside belt in 2009, claimed his second title on Sunday, despite plenty of bumps in the road along the way.
“In three years a lot has happened,” said Hayden, who won the open 13-14-year-old, 154-pound boys’ division with a split decision over Chicago’s Courtney Pierre. “It was a lot of hard work that I put into training for this belt. I’m just so happy that I got it because I went through a lot to get this belt.”
Hayden faced plenty of adversity in Kansas City, winning his first fight only to be disqualified from his second bout due to having the wrong type of mouthguard. Hayden appealed and gained re-entry into the event, only to find himself matched with a 6-foot-6 behemoth in the final.
“When I first looked at him, I was like, ‘Is this guy actually 14?’” Hayden marvelled. “… But his punches didn’t really have nothing on them. I didn’t really feel them.”
Even at the end of the bout, Hayden believed he had lost after weathering a flurry of jabs from Pierre, but was thrilled to be proven wrong, particularly with his father, Nestor, and friends watching from back home on the live Internet feed.
Another Brandon Boxing Club member, Boissevain’s Natasha Armstrong lost a split decision in the 15-to-16-year-old, 119-pound girls’ division to defending champion Jennifer Ruiz of Laredo, Texas.
Armstrong, 15, was originally entered in the 110-pound class but didn’t have any boxers in her division, so she stepped up to face Ruiz at 119 pounds.
» rhenders@brandonsun.com